Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the
bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. – Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865
We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. – Barak Obama, Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009
‘Twas a great day for the US of A, with our Lincolnesque young President taking over in a time of trial, and no doubt hoping to channel some of that Abe and Franklin Delano magic– just as John Williams reworked the Shaker hymn Americana of Lincoln Portrait/Appalachian Spring master Aaron Copland. Some years ago, when becoming President was still a faint gleam on a distant horizon, Obama was the Narrator for one such Lincoln performance, dreaming his own dream no doubt.
Obama also quoted Dorothy Fields & Jerome Kern (Swing Time, 1936):
“Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again.”
Well, Obama does have one thing in common with Lincoln-they both reached the Presidency. Oh yeah, they both are/were lawyers.
That’s it.